I've bought the tickets....now I have to lose the weight!

So...I finally bit the bullet and bought the plane ticket to New York to go with one best friend to see another....now I just have to lost about 20 pounds (that's the goal) between now and March 8. This means major buckling down on my part...no more putzing around.
And I hate flying to boot! Its a surprise for the friend in NYC...she and I have been attached at the hip for the last 4 years, and she doesn't know I'm coming with Michelle...but I'd really like for the attached hip to be a lot smaller before I get there so its an even bigger surprise.

I'm open to ANY tips, suggestions or ANYTHING anyone is willing to give!

It's a really good motivation. I failed last year when we booked a trip in July for January and I never lost the weight. I was pretty miserable in a bathing suit, even with a big Tee shirt (see avatar photo). 20 lbs is a big goal and means really staying on your program and lots of exercise. March is still chilly in NY so at least you won't need a bathing suit.
Laura

The challenge with losing weight for a specific event is that you often opt for more extreme restrictive plans that you know you can't stick to forever, but can manage for two months just to get the weight off. The problem is, once you go off your "diet" you will gain the weight back. 20 pounds in 2 months is a pretty lofty goal - more than 2 pounds a week. To achieve that you are going to have to really decrease calories and increase exercise - to levels that you may not sustain after two months...just be careful. It's great to motivate yourself with short term goals, just don't forget the long term.

HIbiscus8~ this is true...I'd rather lose a little and keep it off than gain it all back....I'd settle for 10. I've done pretty well with the weight when i stick to my plan....I just have to keep myself from straying so much.

LauraB~ I'm glad there's no bathing suit required...I'm not ready for that yet!

Old fashioned, but I'd get a big poster of NY and tape it to the frig (and then yes, I would "give myself permission" to make the best effort possible and if that's 20 pounds great, but if it's 10 pounds, that's excellent too--the difference will be in how you feel about yourself for making an honest effort)

I'm doing a therapy for my TOPS groups in two weeks on goals, so I'll pass on a great idea I'm giving to someone in my group. Her goal is to go horseback riding on the beach in Hawaii. I'm not sure of the date or how much she has to lose, but I gave her a "Hawaii Tin."

The Hawaii Tin is a tin container with a lid with a Hawaii underwater scene with fish, dolphins and all the underwater stuff. Inside the tin I put a brightly colored Hawaii hat with palm trees and beaches on it. It's a child's sized hat, so I cut the brim off the hat and put it in the tin as a liner. In the hat is a small rocking horse, a sea shell, a small bottle of sand and some Hawaii and horse stickers.

To make your goals more real to you, you need to reach all your senses. For this lady, the sand is visual. She can imagine herself walking on the beach, hearing the waves, feeling the wind in her hair. The rocking horse is to remind her of her horseback riding goal. I liked the horse as it touched the inner child inside of me. She can play with it, sit it on her desk at work, rock in back and forth, etc. The sea shell is for hearing as you can hold the shell up to her ear and hear the ocean. The hat is for visual color. The stickers are for her to make her own scenes.

So what could you make for going to NYC? Maybe get brochures or material from online for the places you want to go. Go online to NYC sites. Get postcards. Listen to your traffic in your town and imagine that you are in NYC listening to the traffic.